Saturday, April 7, 2018

She's Hanging On

I've written about Dot's odd tumour previously.  A few years ago, I went to  bed after working my  usual night shift.  Dot had  been sneezing, but other than that, she was fine.  When I awoke four hours later (not much sleep for most people, but lots for me), Dot had a bulbous pink lump on her nose.  I thought that she had a bad case of the snots and gently, tried to wipe it off.  The lump remained.  I worked my shift and in the morning, I called the vet to set up an appointment.  I told the bemused vet that I thought the cat had a tumour and that it had grown in four hours.  A visit was arranged.
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I'm sure they thought I was the proverbial "crazy cat lady" when I showed up.   However, as I wrote previously, the tests revealed that she had a  malignancy.    Dot went on to have two surgeries, with the second unable to access the deep rooted tumour.  It would have been too invasive.  I was told that she was not in pain and that it was only a matter of time for it to return, although it was slow growing.    How it appeared in four hours in the first place is still a mystery and I am not satisfied with the answer that it was inside her nostril and came out  because she was sneezing so much.  I think it's the fact that all the food is now being out-sourced, but I digress.
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The tumour made a sudden reappearance.  She is doing okay, although acting more neurotic than usual.  Animals can develop something akin to dementia also.   She vet gave her some pain medication. in case she needs it, but it's impossible to give it to her.  Yes, the cat has kitty narcotics!
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Dot is a paroled cat.  Her previous home was one of the local prisons and she was a tiny, rescued feral.  There used to be a number of feral cats  at the facility, and the management team allowed some to be adopted by the residents.
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Dot is nineteen years old now and I've had her since she was about one.  This is going to be hard....like John Wayne tough.